Monday, August 13, 2007

I heard today of the untimely passing of artist extraordinaire Mike Weiringo, and it just hit me on so many levels. Not only was Mike a terrific artist, but he was a decent guy, and in the prime of life. And just like that he's gone. Life is full of surprises. I was reminded by Mike Carlin today that Mark Gruenwald passed on at the same age (44) and the same day (August 12th) eleven years ago. It sounds trite to say, but it is a reminder that every day of life is precious.

I know that Ringo's work will live on, in collected editions, just as Mark's work does, which is some consolation.

This Captain Marvel piece was pencilled by Ringo and inked by me, for DC's 1994 presentation catalog, when Mike was briefly attached to draw the monthly Power of Shazam comic. Sadly, he withdrew from that project. I would've enjoyed working with him on that. He had grown so much as an artist since then, peaking with his work on his project Tellos, and his recent runs on Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. What a terrific storyteller he was , with clear, easy to follow stuff. His pencils elevated every script he worked on, and he will be missed.

I drew this for a reprint of the original 1960's Secret origins comic, where the original stat was too degraded to use. It was an awful fun job, and I couldn't hide my style too much, though I tried to respect the panels ( which were drawn by several artists originally.) It was more than a tracing job, I can tell you. I believe the World's Finest panel had the most redrawing, by DC editorial request.

Monday, June 25, 2007

This piece was done for the 1980's Who's Who in the DC Universe, published by and TM and copyright DC Comics 2007, featuring a slew of DC characters with names starting with the letter "R". It was inked by my pal Mike Machlan, (who I shared a studio with at the time) and then rejected by DC editorial because I broke their format of having figures in a real space, relating to each other size-wise instead of collage-like, as I did them here. Artist Ernie Colon did a quick substitute, and that's what was printed. And hilariously, a few issues later they started doing collage type layouts themselves. Too late for this piece though. Well, that's showbiz folks. Enjoy! Best, JER

Friday, April 13, 2007

Another show from my childhood was Batman, starring Adam West. I was the right age when this started-- too young to be offended by the outrageous campiness, so I thought it was terrific. Then I spent 20 years hating that I ever liked it. Now, I am happy to think back on it, but not too curious to view it again:)Here's a picture of me being pummeled by Batman (a fan in a cool costume) from San Diego Comic Book Convention, circa 1986 or 1987.

This youtube clip of the intro to the old Marvel Super-Heroes cartoon show brings back great memories of my childhood. I used to run all the way home from school to plop in front of our big old RCA tv to watch this show on channel 18 in Milwaukee. at 3:30 pm every weekday. The animation was crappy, but they clipped the artwork right out of the Marvel comics, so it had that POWER! Best, Jer